Digital Lifescapes

The traditional point-of-sale (POS) terminal has traveled a remarkable journey since IBM's first mainframe-connected models emerged in the 1970s. What began as clunky screen interfaces tethered to distant computers has evolved into a diverse ecosystem of payment solutions. Today, we stand at the precipice of the most significant transformation yet: the rise of soft POS technology that promises to democratize digital payments for businesses of all sizes. At its core, this evolution reflects a broader shift from hardware dependency to software flexibility. Global POS Market Development With their dedicated terminals, fixed installations, and substantial upfront costs, traditional POS systems have long served as gatekeepers to in-store or mobile payment acceptance. Small businesses, micro-enterprises, and mobile retailers often found themselves locked out of the digital economy, forced to rely on cash transactions or make significant capital investments in POS hardware. Soft POS techn...

The exponential growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications will create demand for new devices that are purposely enabled and enhanced to deliver superior end-user experiences. Worldwide shipments of AI PCs and Generative AI (GenAI) smartphones are projected to total 295 million units by the end of 2024 -- that's up from 29 million units in 2023, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. Gartner defines AI PCs as devices equipped with dedicated AI accelerators or cores, neural processing units (NPUs), accelerated processing units (APUs), or tensor processing units (TPUs), designed to optimize and accelerate AI tasks on the device. GenAI-Enabled Device Market Development This new device platform provides improved performance and efficiency in handling AI and GenAI workloads without relying on external on-prem servers or public cloud services. GenAI smartphones are designed and equipped with hardware and software capabilities that enable integration and efficie...

The leading organizations that create a digital transformation plan will gain the most from their use of public cloud computing. However, some CIO and CTO leaders still struggle with how to build a modern cloud migration strategy. The worldwide cloud computing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market grew 41.4 percent in 2021, to a total of $90.9 billion -- that's up from $64.3 billion in 2020, according to the latest market study by Gartner. "The IaaS market continues to grow unabated as cloud-native becomes the primary architecture for modern workloads," said Sid Nag, vice president and analyst at Gartner . Cloud IaaS Market Development Cloud supports the scalability and composability that advanced technologies and applications require, while also enabling enterprise leaders to address emerging needs such as sovereignty, data integration, and enhanced customer experience. In 2021, the top five IaaS providers accounted for over 80 percent of the market. Amazon AWS conti...

More CEOs in the wholesale and retail sectors have accelerated the adoption of digital business models. As a result, it's now relatively easy for anyone to seek out the best product deals online or on their mobile devices, and purchase whatever they need via eCommerce platforms. This transition has forced many traditional wholesalers and retailers to shift their strategies and increase their digital presence and product availability, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the fortunes of those lagging behind into sharp focus. In particular, both traditional and online retailers are under immense pressure to offer improved shopping experiences and to meet growing consumer demand for omnichannel digital payments, while also adhering to evolving financial services sector regulatory requirements. Global eCommerce Market Development That said, the line between physical and digital commerce is becoming increasingly blurred. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research,...

Voice-enabled user interfaces have reached mainstream adoption. The value chain for voice assistants is rapidly expanding to include emerging applications. Device vendors, system integrators, software app developers and cloud providers will offer solutions for a growing list of voice assistant use cases. Juniper Research estimates that voice assistants will be in use on over 4 billion devices by the end of 2020. The mass adoption of artificial intelligence, and chatbots in particular, is fueling the rapid shift towards voice-activated services. Voice Assistant Market Development Internet of Things (IoT) devices and more practical applications are enabling voice assistants to deliver tangible value. Microphones are everywhere and access to voice assistants has become ubiquitous, with more technology companies eager to monetize this trend. Voice communication isn't the only method of interaction with artificial intelligence (AI) software. For example, Google Assistant also su...

Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 380 million units in the first quarter of 2017 -- that's a 9.1 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Gartner analysts believe that mobile phone buyers are spending a little more to get a much better device, resulting in the rise in average selling prices of smartphones across the globe. The shift in buyer preference is positively affecting Chinese manufacturers -- such as Huawei, Oppo and Vivo -- in their strategy to build desirable features into devices at very affordable prices. Smartphone Market Development That being said, the combined market share of the Chinese vendors in the first quarter of 2017 accounted for 24 percent -- that's up by 7 percentage points year on year. "The top three Chinese smartphone manufacturers are driving sales with their competitively priced, high quality smartphones equipped with innovative features," said Anshul Gupta...

Mobile payment service app adoption is on the rise. According to the latest worldwide market study by IHS Markit, 3.4 billion smartphones will be ready for Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google's Android Pay by the end of 2017 -- that will increase to 5.3 billion devices by 2021. Moreover, 11 percent of active smartphones globally will be compatible with Apple Pay; 61 percent with Android Pay; and three percent with Samsung Pay (which overlaps with Android Pay that's also available on Samsung smartphones). Mobile Payments Market Development "To reach these smartphones, Apple, Samsung and Google must strategically expand mobile payments services and build partnerships with banks and financial institutions," said Ruomeng Wang, analyst at IHS Markit . By the end of the first quarter of 2017, Apple had launched Apply Pay in 15 international markets, Samsung had rolled out Samsung Pay in 14 markets, and Android Pay was available in 10 markets. IHS Markit analysts bel...

Telecom service providers have been seeking new, less capital-intensive, ways to deliver broadband Internet access to homes. Advances in fixed wireless communications will create opportunities to reach new subscribers. Exponential growth of 4G LTE coverage and capacity is driving wireless service growth for fixed broadband access, while fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), xDSL, and cable technologies reach nearly 50 percent of global households. As the 5G standardization process approaches completion, the technology will significantly accelerate global fixed wireless deployments. The results, so far, from new service tests and trials have been encouraging. Wireless Broadband Market Development ABI Research forecasts worldwide fixed wireless broadband subscribers will grow at a 30 percent CAGR to top 151 million in 2022. "The arrival of 5G technology will completely transform fixed wireless broadband network deployments," said Khin Sandi Lynn, analyst at ABI Research . Recen...

Worldwide smartphone shipments will rebound in 2017, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). While growth is expected to be consistent, IDC predicts shipment volumes to grow by 4.2 percent in 2017 and 4.4 percent in 2018 -- with a CAGR of 3.8 percent over the 2016-2021 forecast period. Furthermore, smartphone shipments are forecast to reach 1.53 billion units in 2017, and eventually grow to 1.77 billion units by 2021. From a platform perspective, IDC doesn't expect much change throughout the forecast with Google Android accounting for roughly 85 percent of all smartphone shipments, and Apple iOS making up the rest. That said, the outlook for Microsoft-based smartphones remains grim, given the lack of OEM partner support. Smartphone Market Developmen t Although IDC anticipates that Google Android growth will gradually decline, they do not yet see a point where shipments will contract year-over-year, given the demand for new features such...

The major players in the smartphone ecosystem are driving growth with value-added services. The emergence of several high profile mobile payment service offerings has provided the sector with much needed new growth opportunities. Apple, Samsung and Google have all expanded their mobile wallet range across the globe: by the end of 2016, the services were available in 13, 8 and 9 markets respectively. Between the three vendors, they have rapidly scaled their active mobile wallet user base -- which had reached an estimated 74 million by the end of 2016. Global spend via mobile wallets is expected to rise by nearly 32 percent in 2017 to $1.35 trillion, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. Mobile Wallet Market Development The study found that spend is currently concentrated in the Far East & China, due primarily to the success of mobile services such as Alipay and WeChat. However, Juniper analysts believe that moves by PayPal and Apple to of...

When the smartwatch market came into being, most industry analysts assumed that Apple would dominate the new category. Now it seems that Google Android will likely lead the market, via its extensive open ecosystem of software developers. While the number of high-end smartwatches is faltering, hybrid watches remain largely unaffected by the market slow-down, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. These watches have traditional watch faces but offer some connected functions -- such as tracking the user's steps or enabling NFC payments -- and claim a larger portion of the market than previously anticipated. Smartwatch Market Development Trends While basic smartwatches account for around 30 percent the current market value, Juniper anticipates that this share will grow to almost 40 percent within the next five years. The new research findings anticipate that as the high-end multi-functional smartwatch market slows, vendors will refine or remove unpopular fu...

Ever since the mainstream adoption of the mobile smartphone, the word 'smart' is used broadly to define any device that has some form of on-board communication connectivity. Likewise, a Smart Home is designed to deliver a number of digital services inside and outside the home, through a range of networked devices. Juniper Research believes the entertainment segment to be the most viable in terms of consumer uptake, for the simple reason that these services are almost universally desired. Revenues from smart home hardware and services will reach $83 billion this year, rising to $195 billion by 2021, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. This revenue upside will be generated through entertainment, automation, healthcare and connected devices. Smart Home Market Development The new research also found that home automation and smart appliances will be the two fastest growing segments over the next 5 years, driven by established manufacturers such as Sa...

When smartphones are combined with cloud services, the converged capabilities are truly remarkable. And, cognitive computing and machine learning are enabling a new era of communication. By 2019, 20 percent of all user interactions with a smartphone will take place via virtual personal assistants (VPAs), according to the latest market study by Gartner. Gartner's annual mobile applications survey found that 42 percent of respondents in the U.S. and 32 percent in the UK used VPAs on their smartphones in the last three months. More than 37 percent of respondents (average across U.S. and UK) used a VPA at least one or more times a day. "The role of interactions will intensify through the growing popularity of VPAs among smartphone users and conversations made with smart machines," said Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner . Personal Assistant Market Development Apple 'Siri' and Google 'Now' are currently the most widely used VPAs on smartph...

Industries that have always embraced the adoption of new technologies are not immune to being digitally disrupted by savvy new market entrants. The global telecom service provider market had a long history of relative stability. Now, however, business model disruption is pervasive. The market is in a state of rapid evolution, with telecommunications companies now competing against more progressive web-scale companies. They can deploy a new service in a matter of hours, thereby delivering real-time experiences to their online subscribers. As more customers demand instant access for digital services, ABI Research predicts many Tier One telcos will transform into digital service providers (DSPs), in order to compete more effectively with over-the-top (OTT) players -- such as Google and Facebook. Digital Services Market Development "Digital transformation is the ultimate goal for telecom network operators. For instance, T-Mobile Un-Carrier digital offerings likely played a hug...

Enterprise-wide implementations of audience engagement software and services for advertising, marketing, sales and services continue to increase by 5 to 6 percent every six months, reaching nearly 20 percent according to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR). Over 50 percent of enterprises are either in proof of concept or scaling up their digital technology deployments. According to the TBR assessment, digital technology is mainstream and it's already changing the way that businesses interact with their online stakeholders. Digital Media Market Development Traditional media continues the move to digital formats, driving a significant shift in spending. Digital native service providers -- such as Google -- are capturing billions in advertising spend as organizations pivot from traditional print and television formats into more effective online engagement. Newspapers everywhere have suffered greatly from the shift to the digital economy. Meanwhile, T...

Worldwide smartphone shipments will reach 1.45 billion units, with a year-over-year growth rate of just 0.6 percent in 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although growth remains positive, it is down significantly from the 10.4 percent growth rate in 2015. However, 4G smartphones will reach 21.3 percent year-over-year growth globally for 2016, at 1.17 billion units -- that's up from 967 million in 2015. Once again, emerging markets are driving most growth, where only 61 percent of 2015 smartphone shipments were 4G-enabled, compared to the 77 percent in 2016. That being said, mature markets  -- such as USA, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe -- are further along the 4G adoption curve with 85 percent in 2015 and a projected 94 percent in 2016, respectively. Smartphone Market Development Trends "It's been a long slog for 4G uptake in many emerging markets as 4G data tariffs have been very expensive compared to 3G, while 4...

While a variety of devices have been in development for virtual reality (VR) platforms, the technology has blossomed in recent years due to developments in sensor technologies and the availability of lower-cost solutions -- such as mobile. Today, there are a growing number of diverse industries that stand to benefit from the development of emerging applications -- as an example, from entertainment to medical and military use cases. There will be nearly 60 million smartphone VR headsets shipped in 2021, that's an increase of around 240 percent on an expected 16.8 million this year, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. VR Market Development Trends However, according to the Juniper assessment, the lower price of these devices means they will only account for 7 percent of the total hardware revenue. While millions of consumers are already using VR on smartphone-based devices --such as Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR -- software developer...

Technology will continue to displace humans in job roles that can be automated. For certain, business and government leaders will have a choice -- accept progress and prosper, or wait for the inevitable outcome of regression. Historically, while most of the Luddites eventually concede, it's a complicated scenario. By 2020, smart machines will be a top five investment priority for more than 30 percent of CIOs, according to the latest market study by Gartner. That being said, with some smart machines moving towards fully autonomous operation for the first time, balancing the need to exercise control versus the drive to realize benefits is crucial. As an example, Google’s self-driving car project team may discover that pursuing full autonomy is neither possible nor desirable in smart machines. "Human beings are still required as the final point of redundancy in an autonomous vehicle, so a fully autonomous car requires a steering wheel should a driver be required to take con...

More people are satisfied with the smartphone they own and have no interest to replace the device -- that's a problem for some vendors. Worldwide smartphone shipments will reach 1.46 billion units with a year-over-year growth rate of just 1.6 percent in 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although growth remains slightly positive, it is down significantly from the 10.4 percent growth in 2015. Much of the smartphone sales slowdown is also being attributed to the ongoing market saturation and decline expected in developed regions (such as North America) during 2016. Developed markets as a whole are expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.2 percent, while emerging markets will experience a CAGR of 5.4 percent over the 2015-2020 forecast period. Smartphone Market Development Challenges "Growth in the smartphone market is quickly becoming reliant on replacing existing handsets rather than seeking n...

Payments on smartphones via the mobile internet will boost global online retailers. The entry of OS-Pay (Apple Pay and Android Pay) to the market is likely to play an important role in retailer business strategy, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Moreover, with biometric authentication becoming more common as a means of avoiding password or PIN entry, purchase friction can be further reduced. New findings from the Juniper study indicate that the value of digital and physical goods purchased through mobile 'OS-Pay' platforms will increase by fifteen times in the next two years. A combination of in-app purchases and website retail payments is projected to drive worldwide annual spend via Apple Pay and Android Pay to $8 billion in 2018 -- that's up from just $540 million this year. Simple Transactions Key to Mobile Success Their study also found that the integration of OS-Pay into North American eRetail apps will be welcomed by software devel...